RIA Advisory Group LLC Acquires New Position in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST)

RIA Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Costco Wholesale Co. (NASDAQ:COST - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 1,557 shares of the retailer's stock, valued at approximately $1,028,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Richelieu Gestion SA acquired a new position in Costco Wholesale in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 200.0% during the fourth quarter. Morton Brown Family Wealth LLC now owns 45 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 30 shares during the last quarter. Sanctuary Wealth Management L.L.C. bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $26,000. Steph & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Costco Wholesale by 42.3% during the third quarter. Steph & Co. now owns 74 shares of the retailer's stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 22 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valued Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Costco Wholesale during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $49,000. 68.48% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Costco Wholesale Trading Down 0.2 %

NASDAQ COST traded down $1.74 on Friday, hitting $709.51. 2,188,979 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 2,098,958. Costco Wholesale Co. has a 52-week low of $476.75 and a 52-week high of $787.08. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.93 and a quick ratio of 0.43. The company has a market capitalization of $314.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 46.40, a P/E/G ratio of 4.76 and a beta of 0.77. The company's 50-day moving average price is $730.29 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $660.55.

Costco Wholesale (NASDAQ:COST - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, March 7th. The retailer reported $3.71 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $3.62 by $0.09. Costco Wholesale had a net margin of 2.73% and a return on equity of 28.80%. The firm had revenue of $58.44 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $59.11 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $3.30 EPS. The company's quarterly revenue was up 5.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Costco Wholesale Co. will post 15.84 EPS for the current year.

Costco Wholesale Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 10th. Shareholders of record on Friday, April 26th will be given a dividend of $1.16 per share. This represents a $4.64 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.65%. This is a boost from Costco Wholesale's previous quarterly dividend of $1.02. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, April 25th. Costco Wholesale's payout ratio is presently 26.68%.

Insider Activity

In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In other news, EVP Russell D. Miller sold 785 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $722.86, for a total transaction of $567,445.10. Following the transaction, the executive vice president now directly owns 10,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,228,600. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, Director W Craig Jelinek sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, January 23rd. The shares were sold at an average price of $685.93, for a total transaction of $5,487,440.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 216,212 shares in the company, valued at $148,306,297.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 11,727 shares of company stock worth $8,170,388 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 0.18% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on COST. DA Davidson reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $680.00 price target on shares of Costco Wholesale in a report on Thursday, April 11th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Costco Wholesale from $693.00 to $741.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, December 21st. StockNews.com cut Costco Wholesale from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, April 12th. Tigress Financial boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $745.00 to $870.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, March 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Costco Wholesale from $610.00 to $675.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eighteen have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $691.28.

About Costco Wholesale

Costco Wholesale Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, engages in the operation of membership warehouses in the United States, Puerto Rico, Canada, Mexico, Japan, the United Kingdom, Korea, Australia, Taiwan, China, Spain, France, Iceland, New Zealand, and Sweden. The company offers branded and private-label products in a range of merchandise categories.